Following You
by RedBenchArty
Summary: A story about a shy girl who grows up and leaves her hometown. The fearsome bully from her days of elementary school shows up at her work one day and she is astonished at the man's determination to keep the declaration he made long ago. AU in later chapters.
1. Beforehand Warning

Before you decide to read this story, I'd like to point out a few things as a warning.

I am a fan of A Christmas Story and I realize that this story will have hardly anything to do with the actual film- I will simply be taking parts and a few characters and using them in my story. They will be OOC and I wouldn't recommend avid fans to read this fanfiction because Scut Farkus will be displayed in a completely different way to how his character is, even though he will be grown up.

There will be romance, there will be some puppy-love, and there will be cheesy scenes.

I'm really not trying to ruin the film or characters but I would really like to write this out. It is loosely based on a vivid dream I had and it has been so prominent in my mind that I've been wanting to put it into words.

Basically: **Scut is completely OUT OF CHARACTER.**


	2. One

_Scut Farkus._

_Scut Farkus, the meanest kid in the sixth grade. Bent on bullying anyone within reach, he often waited for kids to pass by the broad alley way before he struck. He would laugh out loud, alerting them that he was present, enjoying the tension that hung in the air once his victims realized he was near. They would freeze up right in their tracks and almost cease to breathe, as though he were sucking the air right from their lungs. Sometimes his lackey would be the first one to make an appearance. Grover Dill would pounce out from a corner and yell, frightening them first._

"Cheryl Stoeger?" Miss Shields looked up from her attendance sheet at the occupied seat of Cheryl. The little girl raised her hand and called back softly, "present".

As Miss Shields continued to take the class attendance, Cheryl felt a light tap on her shoulder and glanced back at her classmate. A small, folded note was in Peggy's hand and she indicated for Cheryl to take it while peering around the classroom to seem aloof.

Cheryl slid it out of her friend's hand, gingerly, and quickly clasped the paper in her right hand, placing both of her fists under her desk. She watched her teacher cautiously and risked a peek down at the note in her hand. In bolded pencil lettering was scrawled across the top. _**GIRLS ONLY **_ it read, in sloppy cursive. The role-calling had continued, giving Cheryl the chance to quickly open the paper and read it.

_Ann likes Beatty! PASS IT AROUND._

She quickly crumpled the paper in her hand, scrunching it into a little ball by clenching her fist as tight as she could.

Ann had been a close friend of Cheryl's since they were three but she hadn't known that her friend was harbouring feelings for one of their classmates. Peeking at Peggy behind her, Cheryl turned her lips downwards as she shoved the wad of paper into her sweater pocket.

Miss Shields had now finished the role call and she was sorting through a small pile of papers to begin the day's lesson plan.

The bell for recess went off a few hours later and students from each class lined up, single file. After they had dressed for the outdoors they were lead down the halls, down the stairs, and out the doors by their teachers. Once the line began to break formation on the playground, Cheryl found a familiar head of red in two pigtails leaving the front of the line and went over to take her arm. Ann beamed once she saw her best friend and happily looped their arms together. They waded through the fluffy snow, further away from the doors of their school.

"Hi Cher! Do you want to play house over by the monkey bars again?" She asked, excitedly.

Usually, Cheryl and Ann joined up with the other girls of their class and played make-believe together by the monkey bars. When the money bars got too crowded or when the boys decided they wanted to take over, the group of girls would head over to the left of the school building and play there.

Although she wanted to continue from their previous game where she was the nanny of the household, Cheryl shook her head before replying quickly with "What do you think of Beatty?"

Ann's face had already been quite pink due to the cold temperature of December but now it had begun to flush a darker red. She slowly removed her hand from Cheryl's elbow and let both of her arms hang tightly by her side. Peggy came skipping up to the two girls but before she could even begin her sentence, Ann turned around and squealed at her. "Why did you go and tell Cher, huh?"

There was a moment of silence where only faint sounds of kids screaming from across the field could be heard. The three girls stood in a small triangle, their breaths mingling with the winter air.

"Aw, come on Ann. I think he likes you too, you don't need to get all flustered." Peggy finally answered, heaving heavily.

Ann was bright red now, staring at Peggy with defiance in her eyes. "You're such a gossiper, I'm sure all the other girls know now as well!" The redhead stomped, sending little bits of snow flying with the force of her boot. "Who else did you tell, Pegs!?"

Cheryl unbuttoned her coat and reached into a sweater pocket, pulling out the crumpled note from earlier and held it out. Peggy was her friend too and she didn't really want their bickering to draw attention. She was very introverted outside of her group of friends and she liked to keep the spotlight off herself. It was often difficult to do because Ann got very brash when she got riled up, she would attract crowds such as honey attracts bees.

"It didn't get far, Ann. Cher's the only one who read it."

Taking the note and unfolding it rather harshly, Ann squinted down at the words on the paper and glanced up suspiciously.

Taking a stand for her dejected friend, Cheryl helped to prove her innocence. "It's been in my pocket since she passed it to me, honest."

"Well... alright. But don't either of you go telling anyone else, y'hear?" Ann smiled. Her face had returned to its normal shade, save for her rosy cheeks. Peggy gave Cheryl a shy, reassuring grin which she returned and the three girls moved in for a group hug.

"Peggy! Ann! Cher! I thought we were going to play house!" A voice in the distance called.

Peggy leapt from the embrace, wide eyed and muttering. "That's right! Hurry!" She turned towards the monkey bars and ran through the snow, leaving fresh footprints trailing behind her.

Cheryl and Ann hurried after her, eager to get the most out of the time left of recess. In her rush, Ann dropped the note in the snow and stopped to pick it up. The residue snow melted quickly in her gloved hand, ruining the note and making it almost unreadable.

She paused then, looking up at Cheryl who had also paused and was patiently waiting for her.

"I wanted to tell you this morning, Cher... Really. But you were talking with Bonnie and the bell rang before we had a chance to-"

"It's alright, I'm not upset."

The two girls continued to strut through the snow, weaving their way through other children running about and playing tag. Suddenly perking up with a loud whisper, Cheryl had to blurt out what was left in her mind.

"...But do you really like _Bartholomew_?"

Ann burst into a fit of embarrassed giggles and gently pushed Cheryl to the side.


End file.
